Queen Issues Official Statement Asking Donald Trump to Stop Using "We Are the Champions"

The members of Queen have been frustrated by Donald Trump's use of their music during his campaign to secure the US presidency.

Even though Brian May had requested politely that he stop, the Republican presidential nominee once again used the song on Monday night while making his entrance at the party's convention.

A statement from the band has been released:

Sony/ATV Music Publishing has never been asked by Mr. Trump, the Trump campaign or the Trump Organization for permission to use We are the Champions by Queen. On behalf of the band, we are frustrated by the repeated unauthorized use of the song after a previous request to desist, which has obviously been ignored by Mr. Trump and his campaign.

Queen does not want its music associated with any mainstream or political debate in any country. Nor does Queen want We are the Champions to be used as an endorsement of Mr. Trump and the political views of the Republican Party. We trust, hope and expect that Mr. Trump and his campaign will respect these wishes moving forward.

The path to legally forcing Trump to stop using the song is not clear. While artists have sued to stop candidates from using songs in the past, Neil Young has stated that, as long as a candidate and/or party has paid for the proper licences and are paying the rights fees, there really is nothing that he can do about their use of a song.

So, while there may not be legal recourse, there is the fact that a candidate should respect the wishes of a songwriter or artist. Time will tell.